


"Is it fate or chance?"

by FandomN00b



Series: Solona Amell and the Rebel Wardens of Ferelden [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen, Lothering (Dragon Age), beginning of Origins, pre-DA2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 10:31:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21177956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomN00b/pseuds/FandomN00b
Summary: Solona Amell meets her aunt and cousins on their way out of Lothering.





	"Is it fate or chance?"

Alistair and Morrigan continued their bickering all the way into Lothering, while Solona casually chatted up the Templars who, for whatever reason, seemed unbothered by the presence of an apostate so brazenly flaunting her freedom. As they crossed the stone bridge that led into the village proper, they passed a group of travelers who appeared to be on their way _out_, unlike the majority of the refugees who had only just begun to arrive from the outlying farms and smaller settlements of the surrounding area.

"Hey!” one of them called. She was almost as tall and thin as Solona, and had similar features, but her eyes were turquoise and her dark hair was cropped short and she had two daggers tucked behind her back. “Weren't you at Ostagar?”

“Yes…” Alistair, or Sweeney the dog, or maybe both of them together, growled. “Were _you_?”

Another mabari wedged herself between the travelers and bared her teeth silently. Sweeney backed up, whimpering, and hid himself behind Solona.

“I knew it! I never forget a face…” She ignored Alistair’s threatening tone and turned toward one of her traveling companions, a tall brute of a young man in soldiers’ armor carrying a huge sword. “Carver, isn’t this the one you said was ‘too pretty to be a Grey Warden'...?” She motioned at Solona.

Carver, presumably, scowled at her as she elbowed him in the ribs and smiled way too wide for Solona’s comfort.

"Revka?!" An older woman frantically shoved them both out of the way, and asked, "Is that you? But how…?"

"C’mon, Mother...we have to go!" Carver grabbed her arm and tried to pull her with him across the bridge, but the older woman swatted at him and stood staring in disbelief at Solona.

"I'm sorry...what did you just call me?" Solona asked, looking as though someone had just punched her in the stomach.

"No...you're far too young...it couldn't be…" The woman shook her head sadly and began to turn away.

The woman with the daggers shrugged at Solona apologetically and Carver continued tugging impatiently at his mother's elbow.

A third young woman, about the same age as Carver, with long soft curls and warm copper-colored eyes, attempted to intervene. "Please, Mother...I'm sure these _travelers_ have urgent business to attend to as well," she pleaded as she grabbed her mother’s other elbow and began to lead her away.

"Did you say _Revka_?" Solona finally managed to stammer.

The older woman turned back around, throwing both of them off of her.

"Yes! My sister...I haven't seen her in years! Well, since she was about your age. Sorry for the mistake. And for my children’s lack of manners."

"Revka was my mother's name. Revka Amell…"

The older woman gasped and Carver's mouth fell open.

The woman with the daggers elbowed him in the ribs again with another delighted grin. "That's your cousin, Carv! Guess it's better than the time you told everyone you wanted to marry Bethany."

"I was four years old!"

Alistair chuckled awkwardly to himself. "I mean, really…who _hasn't_ had a crush on a cousin or a sibling...?"

Solona looked at him curiously for a moment. “How do you even know who yours are?”

“Oh, right…well, nevermind that,” he muttered. “Look! _You’ve_ found a family! It’s like I've been saying, there’s nothing like a Blight to bring people together!”

"This is a rather inconvenient time for a family reunion," Morrigan murmured behind her.

Solona tried to ignore them both. “So wait...you’re my mother’s sister? My _aunt_? And these three are…”

“My insolent children...your cousins, I’m afraid.” Leandra smiled warmly at her and for a brief moment, Solona thought she might have remembered what her own mother actually looked like.

“This is Bethany…” The young woman with the nice brown eyes curtsied politely and Alistair’s eyes trailed all the way up and down her form-fitting mail and low-cut tunic as he swallowed quite loudly and his cheeks began to darken.

“Her twin brother, Carver…” Carver was still scowling at his other sister when he caught sight of the look on Alistair’s face and redirected his contemptuous glare towards him.

“And my oldest, Marian, though she insists on being called ‘Hawke,’ like some kind of _outlaw_.”

“Someone’s gotta keep the family name and reputation going.” Marian, or rather, _Hawke_, beamed at her.

“Nice to meet you all.” Solona tried to return Hawke’s ebullient smile but gave up quickly when she realized that she wasn’t being very successful. Smiling on purpose was not something one did very often in the Circle. “I’m Solona. Amell. The newest, and one of possibly only two Grey Wardens left in Ferelden.”

“You should probably not head that way then.” Hawke waved behind her toward the center of Lothering. “Some of Loghain's most _loyal_ soldiers are in the tavern making asses of themselves swearing they’ll hunt down every last one of the Grey Wardens who betrayed the King. They don’t actually think any of you survived, of course, or they probably would’ve shut their idiot mouths.”

“I think we can handle some drunken traitors.” Solona’s grip on her staff tightened, and Hawke looked curiously at her.

“Speaking of _traitors_…” Alistair said, “You retreated with the rest of Loghain’s soldiers, too, I’m assuming?”

“Yes, fine.” Hawke waved her hand dismissively. “Traitors, and soon to be deserters!” she announced happily enough to cut the tension that had suddenly entered into the conversation. “You should come with us! We’re about to go teach some manners to those assholes robbing people on the highway before heading out of town, and hopefully, eventually, we'll be getting out of blighted Ferelden altogether!”

"We already drove them off,” Solona informed her, “Hopefully straight into the Darkspawn horde we had to fight our way through to get here."

"And if they somehow manage to get through that, they'll have Morrigan’s _mother_ to deal with…”

“What is your _obsession_ with my mother? I assure you she is not at all interested in the likes of _you_, Alistair!”

Hawke eyed Solona appraisingly while the other two continued with their quibbling. “They taught you how to fight in the Circle, eh?”

“I taught _myself_ how to fight.”

"Come with us, then. I imagine we could use some Grey Wardens!”

Alistair cleared his throat. There were apparently more important things to him than insulting Morrigan's mother. “We have duties here. _Your_ commander’s betrayal ensured that this Blight will not be ending anytime soon. We’ll have to recruit an army to replace the one he left behind to die at Ostagar.”

Hawke looked to Solona.

She seemed torn between this “duty” she’d hardly taken on of her own free will and this newfound family she knew nothing of up until a minute or two ago.

“He’s right,” she said with a resigned sigh.

A flash of disappointment crossed Hawke's eyes and her wide, disconcerting smile twitched a bit. "Well, then, umm, I guess...best of luck to you!”

"Andraste preserve you..." Bethany nodded, her eyes drifting to and lingering on Alistair specifically.

Alistair blushed so obviously it was actually painful for all of them. "Thank you, m’lady," he managed to choke out while Morrigan's lips twitched into an uncharacteristic grin.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…can we just _go_?” Carver groaned, pulling both Bethany and their mother away, while the mischievous gears in Hawke's head seemed to whirl around a bit more and then stop.

“Hopefully, we’ll be seeing you around..._Cousin_!" And then she was off, following the rest of her family with the dog at her side.

“They’re rushing headlong into danger,” Morrigan said forebodingly.

“The younger sister, Bethany, is a mage. An apostate. She hid it well, but...I sensed a lot of magical power within her.”

“Oh is that why you were staring so longingly at her, _Templar_?”

“_Yes_…” Alistair gulped. “_That’s_ why...”

Morrigan hmphed triumphantly, and they both turned to look at Solona, who was standing still, silent, watching the Hawke family, _her_ family, as they made their way out of Lothering.

“I was taken to the Circle when I was four. I don’t even remember anything of my early life in Kirkwall, really. Other than my mother, my father, and a newborn sibling I’m not even certain was a boy or a girl. They’re the only other family I’ve ever known. I mean, _met_, I guess...I certainly don’t _know_ them. Just..._of_ them. And it feels very strange. To just know they exist.”

“When this is all over…” Alistair began.

“You keep saying that!” she turned and shouted suddenly at him. “But there’s no guarantee that it ever will be. At least for us! What’s that bullshit oath?”

“In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death...Sacrifice.”

“So far, we’ve seen no reason to hope for any kind of victory in this war. We’re certainly not at peace. So look around...what remains? Only death and sacrifice, as far as I can tell.”

“And people say _I’m_ grim,” Morrigan murmured.

“I’m _sorry_,” Alistair whispered.

“It’s not _your_ fault," Solona sighed, her eyes softening on him. "I agreed to leave the Circle with Duncan and to become a Grey Warden.”

“Do you regret that decision now?”

“I certainly didn’t ask enough questions, that’s for damn sure!” Solona laughed bitterly. “I thought anything would be better than being stuck in a tower for the rest of my life," she sighed. "But I _suppose_ Duncan didn't know that Loghain would betray us.”

Morrigan stood up suddenly taller, looking more fierce and powerful than Solona had yet seen her as she slammed her staff into the ground with defiance. “I’d still take our chances against the Darkspawn horde over being held captive against my will any day!”

“That’s the spirit!” Alistair cheered meekly.

Sweeney's enthusiasm was much more earnest as he leapt happily around Morrigan in a circle, barking.

"Yes, yes...we both dislike cages, it seems," she muttered. Then, as an afterthought, "...foul beast." She smirked down at the dog.

“We shall see.” Solona finally turned back toward the village. “We can at least go deal with those soldiers in the tavern. I’ve never been to a tavern!”

Alistair sighed. “Baby steps, I guess…”

**Author's Note:**

> I know this has probably been done a million times already, but I'm doing my first Amell playthrough (after writing her into some post-Inquisition stuff and falling in love with her...). I wrote this after searching Lothering in vain for my cousins (DA2 is my anchor in this franchise, ok?!), and only managed to find Fenris pretending to be a Templar. I must have just missed them. ;)


End file.
